According to John Power, director general of Engineers Ireland, this will help the sector through its “difficult times”.

The comments follow figures from Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI), which indicate that there has been significant uptake of Building Energy Rating (BER) assessments since the beginning of the year.

Around 250 BERs have been registered per day since January 1st, when it became a mandatory requirement for all homes offered for sale or lease.

But rather than being a burden for the industry, Mr Power urges engineers to view this new “green agenda” as an opportunity.

He said: “We are seeing evidence of this with more and more engineers entering the ‘green economy’ and playing a part in everything from retrofitting houses to smart metering that facilitates energy efficiency.

“Given the global nature of sustainable development, engineers from the island of Ireland working on green issues are likely to be operating in one of the most consistently growing sectors of the world economy over the next 50 years.”

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